


Purity rings

by DylansLittlePrincess



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Awkward Luke, Cute Ashton, Cute everyone, Friends With Benefits AU, Lashton - Freeform, M/M, Top Luke, experienced Ashton, inexperienced Luke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-05-04
Packaged: 2018-03-17 09:59:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3524987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DylansLittlePrincess/pseuds/DylansLittlePrincess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Ashton is a sex addict and Luke wears a purity ring.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> Hiiiii guys. im actually going to be updating this frequently as its posted on my wattpad as well! im not plagiarizing cause im kayisaloner on wattpad. thanks! :D
> 
> chapters will get longer as time passes by tnx xD

So I heard Ashton Irwin is interested in you."

Luke glanced up from his phone to see his best friend Calum staring at him with a knowing smirk on his face.

"Really?" Luke asked, trying not to sound as curious as he really was for confirmation.

"Yeah, Michael told me he admitted he'd totally like to fuck you bro." Calum grinned at Luke, wiggling his eyebrows in a mock provocative way. "I'd take the offer if I were you. Ashton is hot."

Luke gave an annoyed roll of his eyes. Calum had been his best friend since they were little and Luke truly did love him (most of the time) Luke just wished Calum would try to honor the fact that Luke had a purity ring and planned on saving himself for marriage. He could get why Calum didn't understand why Luke wanted to do that but it wouldn't kill him to respect his decision.

"I'm sure Michael would love to know how hot you find his cousin." Luke grinned, knowing he had trapped Calum.

"You wouldn't." The horror in Calum's voice was so apparent that Luke couldn't resist laughing at just how basic his best friend was.

The two of them had spent the past hour in Calum's room listening to angsty rock music and awkwardly trying to flirt with Calum's hot sister Mali whenever she came to tell them to turn it down. Well Luke had awkwardly tried to flirt with her. It was probably illegal for Calum to do that.

"Do you dare me?" Luke smirked, holding out his phone to show Calum the draft for a text to Michael. Calum glanced up at the phone and a split second later, Luke found himself being pounced on by his best friend as Calum did his best to grab the phone away from his hands.

"Dude," Calum said once he had managed to pin Luke down with embarrassing ease, causing Luke to make a resolution to go to the gym more and do something other than try to awkwardly work the treadmill. "Just because your relationship bombed, you shouldn't try to do the same to mine."

Luke gave a small whine and sent a glare in Calum's direction. Calum knew that Luke and Aleisha's relationship was a sensitive spot that shouldn't be brought up under any circumstance. Luke had been so sure that he was actually in love with Aleisha. She was his sun, moon and stars and Luke had thought she was truly okay with his choice against having sex before marriage up until he found out she was secretly having sex with one of the biggest douchebags in school.

After that, Luke fell into a sort of depression that consisted of only playing sad emo music and wearing more black than normal until Calum managed to slap some sense into him and helped him get over her. It wasn't easy as Luke used to be convinced that she was 'the one' but he soon realized that she wasn't that good for him anyway, not if she'd cheat on him like that because he wouldn't have sex with her.

Luke wasn't even a complete virgin. He'd done things like making out and gone all the way to third base once but that was with Aleisha, after they'd been dating for two years. Calum was the opposite. He used to sleep around with basically every boy and girl that came his way then he changed when he met Michael and their relationship was so freaking cute it actually pissed Luke off at times. It was fine when he was with Aleisha as the two of them could be equally as cute but after the breakup, Luke dreaded spending any time with Calum and Michael as they were forever kissing and holding hands and basically just making Luke regret being alive.

Michael usually brought his cousin Ashton to hang out with them as he was thoughtful enough to know that Luke wouldn't like being the awkward third wheel and Ashton seemed like a cool person in general. Both him and Luke were in the same English class and Ashton was good at that, he was smart at most subjects, and he was a friendly person. Not to mention cute with messy honey blond hair and these pretty hazel-green that seemed to change colour depending on the lighting. Luke would definitely not having a problem dating Ashton. If it wasn't for one thing.

Ashton was addicted to sex.

It went past the usual normal horny teenager sex addiction. Luke was pretty sure he saw Ashton with a different guy whenever they met up and even though Luke wasn't the type of person to criticize what other people chose to do with their lives, it made him uncomfortable to see someone sleeping around so casually.

"Yo," Calum waved his hand in front of Luke's face, snapping him out of his thoughts. "I just invited Michael and Ashton over for a movie. Is that cool with you?"

Luke wanted to reply with a 'not really' but he knew there would be no point as Calum would ignore his opinion either way. His relationship with Michael was still at that stage that they wanted to do absolutely everything together. Even when they were apart, Calum would still manage to bring Michael up somehow with stupid ways like spotting a marble that reminded him of Michael's eyes or something like that. It made Luke really miss having a relationship.

"Can't you go one minute without your boyfriend?" Luke whined again, staring at Calum with sad blue puppy dog eyes. "This was supposed to be our bro time."

"And it is. Michael is a bro." Calum shrugged before finally getting off Luke. Calum was more muscular than he was but he still wasn't that much pressure on Luke's back since he managed to be light at the same time. It was just another weird thing about Calum. Luke was pretty sure Calum wasn't completely human.

"It's supposed to be bro time with your favourite bro." Luke replied sweetly. He batted his eyelashes at Calum who proceeded to burst out into barely muffled laughter.

"Do you really believe I like you more than I like Michael?" Calum said as he wiped away an invisible tear. Luke glared at his best friend once again, not knowing whether Calum was actually kidding or not.

"We've been best friends since we were babies! What can Michael give you that I can't?" Luke instantly regretted the words when he saw the grin appear on Calum's face. "Wait, don't answer that."

True to Luke's command, Calum really didn't answer him, choosing to go back and use his phone instead. Luke recognized the gooey smile on his face as the one he got whenever Michael was anywhere in the equation and realized that Michael must have sent him a text.

Luke sighed and fiddled with his ring on his finger in boredom. It was a plain silver band with a yellow gem but it had a lot of sentimental value to Luke as his grandfather had given it to him before he passed away. Before he died, his grandfather had told him stories about how both him and Luke's grandmother had been virgins when they got married and it made sex as a married couple for the first time truly special as they knew they were each other's firsts. Luke just wanted a relationship like that. To have his first time with the person he knew he as going to spend the rest of his life with. He had endured countless teasing from his two brothers after he first but on the purity ring but it stopped after his mum had threatened to buy Ben and Jack rings as well.

"It's really annoying how you and Michael hump like rabbits," Luke said loudly, attempting to get Calum's attention. "Don't you think it'll be more special if you wait?"

Luke had all but given hope on his friend paying any attention to him when Calum glanced up with a sly grin on his face and shook his head.

"You know what? How much do you want to bet you're going to fall for someone break your stupid virginity pledge before we even graduate."

"Anything because I know I'm not going to." Luke replied confidently with a nod in Calum's direction. "I'm never breaking my pledge."

"How about if you break it then you'll have to do anything I dare you to do. Vice versa if you don't. Deal?" Calum smirked.

Knowing Calum, if Luke broke his pledge he would have to do something extremely embarrassing that would most likely involve nudity. He didn't care though. It was an opportunity to prove his superiority to Calum and he would get to break Calum by daring him not to have sex with Michael for a month when he won.

"Deal."


	2. two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all the kudos guys!!!!!

Calum remained glued to his phone until ten minutes later when the doorbell rang and he all but fell off the bed in a scramble to reach the front door as fast as he could.

Luke sighed before following after his kiwi friend. By the time he had managed to find his way down the stairs, Ashton and Michael were already in the living room. Michael and Calum had their tongues in each other's mouths as Ashton just stood there, looking uncomfortable.

"Hey," Luke alerted Ashton's attention by coughing.

Ashton turned towards Luke and gave him a relieved smile. Luke could empathize perfectly. "Hi."

"Do you want to go make popcorn in the kitchen for the movie? We probably can't trust these two to do it." Luke blurted out before he could think the words over properly. Luckily it seemed like he had said the right thing as Ashton's smile got even wider before he nodded.

Luke went to the Calum's fridge once they got into the kitchen area and pulled out a bottle of soda and held it out towards Ashton. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Just water for me, please." Ashton replied in a low monotone as he leaned against the kitchen counter.

Luke nodded and got out two bottles of water from the section of Calum's fridge which they were held before passing one to Ashton.

"Thanks." Ashton had blinked up at Luke with those big hazel eyes that made Luke feel like a huge fucking nerd as he took a swig of the water. He wasn't much of a fan of water, he was pretty much surviving only on soda and junk food, but it felt like the polite thing to do at the moment.

"So do you want anything else? Chocolate? Biscuits? Crackers?" Luke asked nervously, glancing at Ashton for confirmation. He had no idea why he was being so jumpy.

"You're such a gentleman. It's really cute." Ashton's lips curved upwards as he gave a small giggle and Luke was suddenly all too aware of the fact the other boy was wearing an oversized jumper that slid done slightly on one shoulder to reveal his collarbones. Luke always suspected that he had a huge thing for collarbones and this just proved it. "I could just eat you up. Well, if you wanted me to."

There was a loud clattering noise as Luke's bottle of water collided with the ground. He was well aware of them fact he was gaping like a fish, his entire face probably a bright red by now. But Ashton just giggled even louder, giving Luke the impression that the other boy somehow found him funny.

"You really are such an adorable little virg.in. I feel like I'm corrupting you somehow." Ashton teased as Luke's cheeks flushed even brighter. The normally spacious kitchen suddenly felt much too small for the two of them. Luke was hurrying to get the popcorn and escape the room when Ashton added in. "The blowjob offer still stands though."

"Are you being serious?" Luke managed not to drop the popcorn this time but his arms and feet did feel extremely shaky as he stared at Ashton.

Ashton shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, only if you aren't seeing anyone that is. I don't like cheating."

"Do you like me?" Luke blurted out without thinking. "I mean, like in a crush kind of way. Calum told me you do but I just wanted to make sure."

"I don't 'like' anyone." Ashton stated plainly, in a matter of fact manner. "You're hot and all but a tad too young for my tastes."

"We're the same age." Luke protested.

"I like older guys." Ashton shrugged. "Mostly college guys. So are you seeing someone or not?"

"I'm not in a relationship, not anymore."Luke said, glancing around the kitchen nervously, as if he was nervous of someone overhearing their conversation." She actually cheated on me."

"Poor you," Ashton managed to sound both sarcastic and sympathetic at the same time. It was a that seemed like it'd be useful to learn but Luke was one of those people that couldn't sound sarcastic even if his life depended on it. There was a trace of malice in his voice that hinted at some hidden sad revelation but Luke wasn't going to stick his nose into anyone's business. "So do you want me to suck you off or not?"

"I've got a purity ring." Luke said, purposely dodging the question. He could tell that it wasn't a safe zone in the slightest.

"What's that?" Ashton tilted his head slightly, staring at Luke with expectation written all over his face. "It sounds like some weird cult thing. Fuck, you aren't a Mormon are you?"

"I'm not religious." Luke protested, twisting at his ring. Sure, he went to a Christian school but only because it had a good academic record and his mum had thought being there would help straighten him up and start to pay attention in class. He was still getting just as many detentions as before but he was sure that couldn't be doing as they hadn't expelled him. Yet. "It's just a ring to help me remember my promise not to have sex before marriage."

"So let me get this straight," Ashton said slowly, staring at Luke for confirmation. "You're a teenage boy that doesn't want to get laid and it's not because of a weird religious reason?"

"I just want my first time to be with the person I'm spending the rest of my life with." Luke replied defensively.

"I'm sorry but that's a really shitty logic. Ever heard of divorce?" Ashton laughed, shaking his head as if he thought of Luke as some kind of ignorant kid. "Besides, why would you want to wait for marriage to have sex? It's just physical relief, like masturbatin.g. No big deal."

Luke had blushed deeply at the last part, making Ashton stop laughing and peer at him, this time with worry covering his features. "You do beat off, right?"

"Yes!" Luke squeaked. He was beyond mortified at this point. Sure, he had taken a virginity pledge and all but that didn't stop him from wanki.ng regularly. If anything, he did it more than other people as he knew that he wasn't getting laid anytime soon and he had his needs as a horny seventeen year old boy. He also had quite a large collection of po.rn that was stowed away in the secret compartment of his drawers to make sure Liz would never find it. He wasn't sure what exactly she would do if she ever uncovered it but he was certain it couldn't end well for him.

"What the hell is taking you two so long?" A voice, Michael's, yelled out before the door was opened and Michael and Calum strolled in. Both their clothes were considerably more rumpled than it was ten minutes ago and Luke didn't even want to think about what they had been doing. "And you haven't even made the popcorn yet. Were you two making babies in here or something?"

"No!" Luke yelped, feeling the strongest urge to bang his head against something hard and preferably metal. "What the fuc.k? Two guys can't even make babies."

"And what would you know about that, Mr virgin?" Ashton teased, bumping his shoulder against Luke's lightly.

"I might not have had sex yet but I know a guy can't get another guy pregnant." Luke flushed as he suddenly found his black vans fascinating and decided he'd rather stare at them than at any of the other three boys.

"Would you like to try?" Ashton's eyelashes fluttered as he said the words. He burst out a second later when Luke went red and started stuttering and Michael's lips curved into a sly grin.

"Come on Ashton, don't tease the baby virgin." Michael grinned, looking up at Ashton. His and Calum's fingers were tightly interlocked as he spoke. "We decided that we're watching Annabelle. Is that okay with everyone?"

"I love horror movies!" Ashton said excitedly, clapping his hands in a cute, child-like manner. "It's more than okay with me."

"What about you, Luke?" Calum was the one to speak this time. He was smirking at Luke in a manner that let Luke know that he absolutely knew what he was doing as he was well informed that Luke was terrified of horror movies but would never admit it in front of anyone.

"Its cool." Luke tried to shrug like he wasn't internally freaking out. It must have worked as a Michael nodded and announced that he and Calum were going to handle the snacks and that Luke and Ashton should just go and wait for them in Calum's basement.

Twenty minutes later, the movie had finally started and Luke was on the verge of jumping out of the window to escape the torture. Michael and Calum, the ones who had chosen the movie, weren't even paying any attention to it. Instead they were busy making out on the couch and whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears.

The worst part was that Ashton seemed to be really into the movie so Luke couldn't distract himself by talking to the other boy. He had his eyes fixed on the screen and didn't spare Luke so much as a single glance as the movie went on. This part was sort of good as it meant that he couldn't see whenever Luke flinched away and screwed his eyes shut.

Luke was more than relieved when the movie had finally ended and all was right with the world again. There was no doubt Calum would be getting a lot of stick from him later due to the outright display of evil he had just shown right then. He couldn't even try to deny anything.

"We should get going." Ashton said loudly once the credits had started rolling, directing his comment to Michael. "Your mum is expecting by the both of us back for dinner."

"Do we have to?" Michael raised his head from Calum's chest and glanced at Ashton with a small pout on his pink lips. Michael was kind of (really) hot, Luke realized suddenly. He made a mental note to keep this realization away from Calum as to avoid getting smacked.

"Unfortunately." Ashton was smiling as he stood up from Calum's couch. Luke instantly felt bad about the loss of warmth in his side. "We should go before she goes on rampage. We promised to help her set the table because special guests are coming over, remember?"

"Fuck." Luke swore suddenly. He nearly tripped over his own feet in attempt to scramble off the couch. "I forgot I promised mom I'd help her clean out Ben's room since he's coming back from college today."

"Ben Hemmings?" Ashton looked partially surprised as he stared at Luke. "You're related to him?"

"Brothers." Luke gave a noncommittal shrug. He was used to getting the same reaction whenever he mentioned his brother to anyone in their town.

"Ben is a legend! Do you know his dick is-" Ashton had began excitedly when Luke covered his ears with a groan.

"Ashton," Michael looked like he was fighting off a grin. "I don't think the boy wants to hear about his brother's dick."

"But it's huge, I swear! Nearly thirte-"

By this point, Luke had fallen to the ground and was halfway to drinking the bottle of bleach stowed away at the corner by Calum's mom to escape the awkward situation.

"Okay, fine fine, I get it." Ashton laughed and held out a hand to Michael who sighed before untangling himself from Calum and standing up. "Let's get going."

"Bye." Luke played with his fingers as he spoke. "I'll see you at school."

"Bye, Mr Virgin." Ashton's wink was playful and teasing as he spoke. "Give Ben love from me, okay?"

"Okay." Luke's reply was instant."Shit, I need to go."

He didn't miss the looks on amusement on the other three's faces as he put his shoes back on as quickly as he could before exiting Calum's house.

-


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always forget I'm posting it here what is wrong w me

Luke honestly didn't feel too bad about going back to school for once. He usually couldn't stand school but it wasn’t because he was stupid like most of his teachers thought and chose not to voice aloud. He just had a hard time with concentrating and actually listening to the teachers as they droned on about things that most likely would never be of any importance to him. 

The only subject he didn't do too badly in was maths as having an accountant turned math teacher for a mother tended to make you try a bit harder in maths compared to the other the subjects. Also because Liz would have his head if he ever brought home anything less than a B in maths.

His prior enthusiasm to go to school was ruined once he had dragged himself out of bed and realized that he had English first period. English meant an hour of sitting at the back of the class and hoping the teacher wouldn’t ask him any questions about the subtext or implicit meanings behind some short novel or poem or just whatever type of text they were concentrating on.

Plus the girl who sat behind him was beyond annoying since she was forever sick and spent most of her time sneezing and sniffling. It caused Luke’s skin to crawl whenever he heard her despite the rational part of his head told him that she couldn’t sneeze as far as to actually get snot on him.

The worst part was that his English teacher, Mrs Gibbs, hated his guts due to the first class with her when he had decided to play a little prank on her as she was the new teacher; just for a joke. Unluckily for him, she hadn’t found it very funny and retaliated by finding ways to make him look stupid during class and it was embarrassingly easy as Luke was awful at English.

‘’Hemmings,’’ Luke groaned when the teacher chose to call on him. It wasn’t surprising though. She was probably never going to give him a break. ‘State the importance of Rosalie’s character in Romeo and Juliet.’’

‘’Um,’’ Luke said slowly, trying to remember just who Rosaline was. They had been covering the book for nearly a month now and he still hadn’t gone past the first line of the prologue without falling asleep. ’’She's important as -‘’

‘’To reveal more clearly and forcefully Romeo's emotional condition at the beginning of the play. He was not really in love with Rosaline. He was love-sick. He was therefore in a fit emotional condition to fall in love when he met one who was worthy of his love, who evoked his love, who reciprocated it. The ground was ready to receive the seed. ‘’ Luke didn’t have to turn to know it was Ashton who answered. No one else in their class could give an answer that advanced.

Luke was a mixture of grateful and embarrassed at Ashton answering the question for him. He had come to the realization that Ashton was brilliant at English the one time he had borrowed Ashton’s notes to copy a section he had missed and found the answers to be genius, college worthy information.

Mrs Gibbs raised a blonde eyebrow and folded her arms. ‘’I don’t recall asking you for an answer, Mr Irwin.’’

‘’I’m sorry.’’ Ashton blinked innocently, not bothering to hide his slight smirk.

Luke felt the urge to laugh when he saw the look on Mrs Gibbs face. She looked nearly murderous as she scrunched up her face in distaste. ‘’Since you’re obviously so ahead of everyone else, I want a 5000 word synopsis on my desk tomorrow morning about Romeo’s characterization throughout the entire book.’’

‘’Only five thousand words?’’ Ashton muttered sarcastically.

‘’Ten thousand. Typed and in size ten text.’’ Mrs Gibb’s lips curled angrily as she spoke. ‘’This is going to count for thirty percent of your grade so consider that before you attempt to hand in shoddy work.’’

‘’That’s fine with me.’’ Ashton smiled sweetly. He folded his arms up and beamed up at her. ‘’I’ll have it to you first thing tomorrow morning.’’

Luke couldn’t help but feel satisfied even after Mrs Gibbs gave the class five pages of homework to be completed the same night in annoyance.

He had packed up his things as quickly as he could immediately class was over and was on his way to second period, trig, when he felt a hand grab at his wrist and turned to see Ashton.

‘’You’re helping me with the paper.’’ Ashton said quickly before Luke could say anything. ‘’I’m not writing a ten thousand word essay on the most boring book ever alone.’’

‘’I’m really bad at English,’’ Luke replied, not meeting Ashton’s eyes. ‘’I’d be more of a distraction than help.’’

‘’You’d be a nice distraction.’’ Ashton laughed when Luke blushed and glanced at his feet. ‘’I’m just kidding.’’

‘’But I am cute right?’’ Luke was aware that he sounded somewhat hopeful as he asked.

‘’Just wait for me outside the locker rooms today.’’ Ashton rolled his eyes said after a minute. He was still smiling as he spoke. ‘’Don’t forget, okay?’’

‘’Okay.’’ Luke shrugged.

Ashton tucked in a strand of curly brown hair behind his ear and giggled slightly as he shook his head. He was wearing his glasses which were a bit too big for him and slipped down his nose every so often, causing him to have to reach out to tug them up. Luke could empathize perfectly. He used to wear glasses in year 8 until Calum broke his fifth pair and Liz decided it would be easier for everyone if Luke switched to contacts. That was before his eyesight improved and he stopped needing them altogether.

‘’Remember. If you’re late.’’ Ashton stopped his sentence and dragged a playful finger across his neck.

Luke just nodded as Ashton smiled and walked away.

-

Fair to his word, Luke was waiting outside the school locker rooms at five minutes past three, once school was over. The air was slightly chilly and he couldn’t help the slight shivering as flannel shirts really weren’t good defence against the cold.

He waited somewhat patiently outside, checking his phone to keep himself entertained until it got to thirty minutes past when he decided he wasn’t going to freeze his butt off outside for a minute longer and ducked inside the locker room, partly to see if he could find Ashton in there and mostly as he couldn’t stand the cold.

Inside was slightly warmer as he went deeper inside. The place seemed deserted but it wasn’t as if he was actually expecting anyone to be inside. That was why he froze and turned around in surprise when he heard a loud moan, finally noticing that he wasn’t alone inside the rooms.

Luke slowly headed straight ahead to where he heard the sounds coming from, towards the middle room. He wasn’t really sure what he was expecting to find but he definitely wasn’t expecting to see Ashton and one of their classmates, Brad, passionately snogging.

Luke didn’t really know much about Brad at all except that he was one of the most popular kids in school. Luke had never really liked Brad anyways. He always gave off the vibe that he was a pretentious douche due to how he was the captain of the football team, very buff, not all that smart and tended to walk around with his varsity jacket slung over his broad shoulders in attempt to intimidate people.

Besides, Calum couldn’t stand Brad either since Calum was captain of the soccer team and both teams were forever competing for a bigger budget. The school always favoured the football team though, which annoyed Calum to no extent as the soccer team won more competitions.

Luke’s face flushed when he heard Ashton moan as he and Brad continued snogging. Ashton’s hands were tangled in Brad’s short blond hair and Luke couldn’t keep his mind from wandering about if Ashton would make those sounds if it were Luke that he was kissing instead.

Luke felt like a pervert when he realized his pants had tightened ever so slightly. It felt much worse than it actually was because of how skinny his jeans were. It wasn’t like Luke was some sort of perverted voyeur or anything. It was just that since he hadn’t had sex before, the slightest things managed to make him horny.

It took all his self-control to resist slipping his hands into his own pants and rubbing at his bulge after Ashton separated their lips and moved to lightly nip at Brad’s neck.

When Brad had attempted to take his shirt off, Ashton finally seemed to remember where they were and broke the kiss apart. ‘’I’m sorry but we can’t have sex now.’’ Ashton said breathlessly.

Luke took in the fact that for once, instead of looking hazel or green, it looked a bright golden and blown in the most attractive way possible.

‘’Why not?’’ Brad asked gruffly.

‘’I’ve got tons of homework to do. I can’t spend any more time here.’’ Ashton bit his lip and looked away from Brad. Luke suddenly realized that he was intruding on a private moment and started to back away as to go back outside where he had supposed to have been waiting in the first place.

‘’What the hell?’’ The anger in Brad’s voice caused Luke to turn in surprise and watch as Ashton ended up falling to the floor after Brad stood up roughly, wiping and his jeans and glaring. ‘’Why did you call me out here if you aren’t even going to put out?’’

‘’I just wanted to talk at first but-‘’

‘’Talk?’’ Brad shook his head. ‘’Trust me when I say you’re the last person I’d go to if I wanted to ‘talk’. You’re only good for sex and sex alone. Don’t you forget that.’’

Ashton kept silent as Brad picked his varsity jacket from the floor and shrugged it on before standing up. It wasn’t until he was halfway across the room that Luke realized Brad was headed straight for his direction but by then it was too late.

‘’What are you doing here?’’ Brad growled. Luke couldn’t miss the slight fear that had appeared in his eyes for a moment. ‘’What did you see?’’

‘’I didn’t see anything.’’ Luke lied, backing up against the wall. He wasn’t going to risk telling the truth to that beast of a boy and getting his face bashed in. ‘’I just got here.’’

Brad’s shoulders noticeably relaxed. ‘’Good. Now get out of my way before I beat you.’’

Luke didn’t hesitate to move away as Brad pushed past him and walked out of the locker room, slamming the door loudly behind him. Once he was gone, Luke turned to Ashton who was standing a few feet from him, hazel eyes narrowed ever so slightly. ‘’Luke, if you dare tell anyone-‘’

‘’I won’t.’’ Luke cut in, staring straight at Ashton. ‘’I wouldn’t tell anyone about your… whatever, with Brad, not if you don’t want me to.’’

‘’We’re in a relationship you know.’’ Ashton said softly after a moment had passed and he didn’t reply. ‘’I know it’s hard to believe as I’m not good enough for him. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t want to tell anyone.’’

‘’That’s stupid.’’ Luke couldn’t help saying the words. Luke couldn’t think of anyone not being good enough for Brad, especially Ashton. He continued when Ashton gave him a half surprised glance. ‘’I mean, I’d be proud if you were my boyfriend.’’

Luke paused after his awkward statement, daring to look at Ashton and feeling relieved when he realized Ashton’s cheeks were just as red as Luke’s.

‘’Thanks.’’ Ashton eventually said, managing a small smile in Luke’s direction even though he didn’t quite meet Luke’s voice. ‘’Seriously. Why did your girlfriend ever let you go? Oh wait, I just remembered the no sex thing.’’

‘’It doesn’t really matter.’’ Luke protested.

‘’Yes it does.’’ Luke was relieved to hear Ashton giggle. ‘’You’re cute but I’d never date a guy I couldn’t even sleep with. I mean, what’s the point of dating in the first place?’’

‘’I’ll have sex when the time comes.’’ Luke shrugged. He wasn’t sure why he was so openly discussing his lack of a sex life like it wasn’t a huge deal for a prude like him but Ashton somehow made it seem so easy by being so chilled about it.

‘’Marriage?’’ Ashton smiled teasingly. ‘’I’m so never taking part in that overrated ritual.’’

‘’Don’t you want to be with the person you love forever?’’

Ashton gave him a pityingy look. ‘’I don’t believe in love or forever. It just leads to being hurt.’’

‘’But-‘’

‘’We should probably start heading to my house.’’ Ashton didn’t give Luke the chance to reply as he turned away at that moment. ‘’I already told my mother that I’m bringing a guest over and I have to warn you that you’ll probably be mobbed by my little siblings. Is that okay?’’

‘’It’s cool.’’ Luke shrugged.


	4. Four

Luke’s first impression of Ashton’s house from the inside was how cozy everything looked. It was certainly smaller than he had expected but he got over that pretty quickly, especially as it just added to the sweet vibe of the house, along with the flower patterned curtains, small wooden table, the bright coloured walls and the photographs and badly drawn family portraits that covered them.

‘’Ashton?’’ Luke turned to see a woman that so obviously had to be Ashton’s mother stroll into the room. She didn’t look anything like him though. Her straight blonde hair was pinned back in two braids with her eyes a noticeable light blue. She stared at Luke with a surprised but not unfriendly smile. ‘’I didn’t know you were bringing a friend over.’’

‘’Luke and I have some homework together.’’ Ashton shrugged, dropping his bag on the kitchen table. Luke was tempted to do the same as his bag was full to the brim with useless textbooks but it felt much to awkward to do that in a house he had never been before that belonged to someone he didn’t know that well.

‘’Okay,’’ The smile on her face was understanding in a way that made Luke feel like he had to awkwardly explain himself. ‘’There are cookies in the kitchen if you need something to snack on and can you boys try to keep any noise down? Harry’s taking a nap.’’

‘’’Thanks mum.’’ Ashton gave his mum a small smile as she nodded and walked up the stairs. Once she was gone, Ashton turned to Luke, focusing his bright hazel eyes on Luke’s dull blue ones. ‘’Do you want to start here or go to my room?’’

‘’Anywhere you want is fine.’’ Luke shrugged, being careful not to make eye contact. The earlier incident was replaying in his head and it was becoming increasingly hard to focus on Ashton without instantly remembering that and feeling embarrassed.

‘’I would say my room but I doubt your legs would fit inside there so I guess we’ll have to make do with the living room.’’ Ashton was smiling, as if to reassure Luke that he was obviously joking but Luke couldn’t help but feel a bit insecure at the comment. He knew that being tall was considered attractive on a guy but it wasn’t all that when he was over 6’4. The skyscraper and giraffe boy jokes got old pretty quickly but he never mentioned it to anyone in fear of sounding whiny. That was one of the reasons he loved Calum. Calum got pissed at jokes about Luke’s height since people tended to act like Luke was three feet taller than he was when in reality, it was just a few inches.

Luke sighed with relief after he decided it wouldn’t be too intrusive to drop his bag on the floor next to the table as Ashton got his English book and the school copy of Romeo and Juliet out. Instead of going to a table like Luke had assumed he’d do, he sat on the mat of the floor Indian style and stared at Luke, waiting for him to do the same.

The eyes on him made him feel more awkward than ever as he unsuccessfully tried to cross his legs and sit down. He quickly picked himself up, acting as if his cheeks weren’t a bright red and he didn’t hear the amused giggling that started a second later.

‘’You’re honestly too hilarious.’’ Ashton giggled, his eyes wide and amused. ‘’Do normal people even fall like that?’’

‘’That’s me, comedy central.’’

‘’Lol. We should probably start the homework now, so we can finish it before twenty fifty.’’ Ashton remarked, spreading open the worn out copy of Romeo and Juliet. ‘’Trust me, the cow will know if we use the internet for any of it so we’ll have to be bringing it all out of our heads.’’

‘’Great.’’ Luke did his best to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach. He really should have paid more attention in English class, even if he never bothered to read the book. It was going to be too obvious that he had never gone past the prologue before. Especially as the class had gone about halfway through the book and Ashton would probably ask him about his opinions on things that were past the first line of the prologue.

‘’So,’’ Ashton folded his arms, moving closer to Luke so that their knees touched. A warm feeling seemed to spread through Luke’s body as that little touch occurred. ‘’What do you have to say about the relationship between Romeo and Rosaline.’’

‘’Its very.. um… strong.’’ Luke offered, crossing his fingers that it would work. ‘’And cute.’

Ashton tilted his head slightly. ‘’Are you sure about that?’’

‘’No.’’ Luke admitted.

To his surprise, Ashton just smiled. ‘’I guessed as much. It was pretty obvious you haven’t read the book and I don’t blame you. It seems pretty boring at first but it’s one of the best satirical pieces of fiction in the world.’’

‘’Satrical?’’

Ashton sighed. ‘’I really wish I had time to help you with your English but I’m still struggling with passing maths.’’

‘’Maths?’’ Luke’s voice was overly eager at the mention of a subject he was actually good at. ‘’I’m great at maths. I could help you with that.’’

‘’That’d be amazing.’’ Ashton grinned brightly at Luke, looking more excited with every passing moment. ‘’I could help you with English and you could help me with maths. That's such a great compromise, I mean, we’d have a perfect symbiotic relationship.’’

‘’I know right.’’ Luke tried to look like he knew what Ashton was talking about. Luckily for him, Ashton was too busy being hyper and happy to notice Luke’s idiocy.

‘’I’m starving.’’ Ashton suddenly paused the excitement and lightly rubbed at his stomach. ‘’The cookie offer seems so appealing right now. Do you want any?’’

‘’I’m fine, thanks.’’ Luke replied.

Ashton pouted. ‘’My mum would be pissed if I didn’t offer you any food. Don’t you want anything to eat?’’

‘’I’ll have a few cookies.’’ Luke really wasn’t hungry but he couldn’t stand the force of Ashton’s pout. It was actually annoying how weak Luke could be against a sad face or puppy dog eyes. Ashton brightened up a second later before rushing into the kitchen.

It wasn’t till Luke opened his phone to check his twitter thathe noticed Calum had been texting him.

Calum: where r u

Calum: reply

Calum: seriously??

Calum: youre such a bad friend id break up with you if we ever dated

Luke: sorry I was busy

Calum: with what?

Calum: do you want to show off your lingerie? On my bedroom floor?

Luke: wat

Luke: I don’t wear lingerie?

Calum: ik, but even if you did I wouldnt want to see it anyways.

Calum: it was Michael that sent that but don’t try anything funny with my boyfriend hemmings.

Calum: and where are u

Luke: can you let me explain for a moment. Im at ashtons house.

Calum: what? You dog. I cant believe you lost our bet already hahaha

Calum: im making you get a dick piercing js

Luke: 1) we’re doing homework you fucktard and 2) im not getting a dick piercing wtf

Calum: but I heard it gives pleasure to your partner during sex. You could show it off to anyone and theyd sleep with you

Calum: oh wait J

Luke: fuck u

Luke: im quitting our friendship

Calum: sorry loser but you sold your soul the minute you said hi to me in year 2

Luke: i honestly hate you rn

Calum: *love you too

Calum: your lucky I put up with you nd your sexual virgin frustration

Calum: I don’t even tell embarrassing stories.

Calum: im too good for you, i need a new best friend.

Luke: bye

Calum: L fine screw u im going to screw Michael

Luke : tell him luke says hi

Luke: hopefully not when ur still having sex with him

Calum: go away I don’t wanna talk to you anymore

Luke: k

Calum: L im telling Michael ur trying to seduce his cute cousin

Luke: im not tho?

Calum: u don’t love me

Calum: I hate u

Calum: why aren’t u replying.

Calum: luke ur such an ass

Calum: lol do u get the joke?? Lukas..

Luke: im not even going to bother to reply that jackass

Calum: lmao

Luke was so precoccupied with texting Calum, he barely heard the cough Ashton made. Luckily, his ears were able to detect it and he looked up to see Ashton carrying a plate of cookies and brownies along with two glasses of what looked like orange juice, all balanced on a tray.

‘’I might have gone a bit overboard with the snacks.’’ Ashton sounded unashamed as he put the tray down and sat next to Luke. ‘’I wasn’t sure if you’d like orange juice though. It’s my favourite but not a lot of people like it.’’

‘’I like orange juice.’’ Luke admitted truthfully. He did like orange juice. He just preferred apple.

‘’Awesome. Do you want mini sandwiches with your juice? There’s bacon, egg, lettuce-‘’

‘’It sounds great but I’m really full.’’

‘’I’m rambling again aren’t i?’’ Ashton looked slightly embarrassed. ‘’I tend to do that a lot to be honest. My mum says it’s because of my irish blood and everyone knows irish people are the lives of a party.’’

Luke couldn’t resist a smile at this. It was true that the rambling was there but it was cute in a childish sort of way. Luke really hoped that finding Ashton cute even though he acted like a child at times didn’t mean that Luke was a secret pedophile.

‘’It’s all right. How about we start the essay now?’’ Luke suggested.

‘’That’s right!’’ Ashton scrambled around to get his notebook before handing his copy of Romeo and Juliet to Luke. ‘’Here, you have to actually read the book before you can be of any help but don’t worry, Rosaline is discussed in early act 1. That’s why I’m surprised you don’t know much about how. How far have you even gone?’’

‘’I stopped second line of the prologue.’’

‘’I should prepare myself for a U on this essay, shouldn’t I?’’

‘’To be honest. Yes.’’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited but I still hope you like it!!


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited

-  
It had been a couple of days since Luke last saw Ashton after they (mostly Ashton) had managed to finish the essay and hand it in to a very grumpy Mrs Gibbs.

Luke was curled up in a blanket in his room, watching the vampire diaries on Netflix. His parents had gone out to celebrate the death of some ancient and apparently loaded relative and since Calum had a date with Michael, he had the entire house to himself and he wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste. Hence he took the opportunity to watch the vampire diaries.

Most teenage boys would have spent the time watching porn and wanking but in Luke's opinion, the vampire diaries was a better option. At least if he was caught doing the first two, he could use the excuse of being a regular teenage boy and no one would bat an eyelash. But being caught watching the vampire diaries? His older brothers wouldn't hesitate to rip him to shreds about it and Calum would tease him to the point he would consider hanging himself to escape them. It wasn't an exaggeration. Luke's brothers had poked fun at him for days after finding out that he liked Harry Potter which was at least semi-manly. The vampire diaries on the other hand? That was just a death wish.

Once he was done watching the latest episodes of both the vampire diaries and the originals, the fact he was completely alone finally registered in his head. 

Luke hated being all alone, especially in his house. At night. He decided on doing things to take his mind off the fact his house was empty, everything from watching football to playing his guitar but every so often, he would be tempted to look behind him end up seeing some creepy shadow. The fact the episode of the vampire diaries that he had just watched was scary didn't help either.

Thirty minutes later, Luke made up his mind to text someone. The only problem was that Calum most definetely wouldn't be answering any of his texts till the next day and neither would his parents. Ben and Jack would be able to see past any guise he could use to text them immediately and that would no doubt result in them giving him stick.

It wasn't like Luke had an endless supply of mates he could talk to. Or any mates at all apart from Calum. He was still unsure of what to do when he remembered he had Ashton's number. He would be able to use the excuse of talking about schoolwork to get a conversation. At this point talking with anyone about anything would be fine. As long as he had someone to distract him.

 

Luke : hey

Ashton : hi? Um sorry but who is this

Luke instantly deflated like a leftover party balloon but he shook it off and continued texting.

Luke: it's Luke

Ashton: oh, sorry! Hey Luke, What's up?

Luke: just chilling at home, you?

Ashton: helping to groom my grandparents horses, Black Star and Soul.

Luke: you can ride?

Ashton: yeah, I'm great at riding ;)

Luke could feel himself blushing. He didn't even know what way to take the comment, whether intentional or otherwise.

Ashton: have I corrupted your innocent mind yet. 

Luke: my mind isn't innocent

Ashton: Virgin = Innocent

Luke: Virgin = More time thinking about sex than those who have already done it

Ashton: *innocent logic*

Ashton: are you there Luke? You can't leave now. You've got to entertain me. I'm sooo bored and it's your duty to keep me occupied.

Luke: sorry princess 

Ashton: bitch please, I'm queen,

Luke: but ur not Beyoncé

Ashton: who's Beyoncé ? 

Luke: um.

Luke: sorry but this convo is over,

Ashton: seriously who is that :(( I feel stupid now, and I thought you were a nice guy.

Luke: but nice guys finish last

Ashton: um?

Luke: you have lived under a rock for your whole life,

Ashton: you've been to my house. Can't you tell it was not a rock.

Luke: idk it could be a nice rock.

Ashton: wtf you're so stupid you're just lucky your face is really cute.

Luke: it is?

Ashton: don't play stupid. All you good looking guys are the same. No matter how nice you are, you still have an arrogant douchey side.

Luke; but you're a good looking guy.

Ashton: ik but I'm different

Luke: how?

Ashton; I just am okay

Luke: okay, I am as well.

Ashton: how?

Luke: I'm a total dork 

Ashton; prove it.

Luke: I have bad mathematical pick up lines so proceed at your own caution.

Ashton: talk mathematics to me

Luke: I wish I was your second derivative so I could investigate your concavities.

Ashton: are you speaking English?

Luke: I need a little help with my Calculus, can you integrate my natural log?

Luke: Meeting you is like making a switch to polar coordinates: complex and imaginary things are given a magnitude and a direction.

Ashton: none of these are even funny to me as I have no clue what they mean :( you suck.

Luke; I bet you wish I'd fly to the moon

Ashton: what?

Luke; it's an inside thing

Ashton: you know a dork means a dick right. You, my friend, are a dick

Luke: how many inches?

Ashton: gross.

Luke: sorry

Ashton: you're such a perverted virgin. You need to keep your hormones in check.

Luke: its hard bc I'm always horny

Ashton: I could help you

Luke: really? 

Ashton: no

Luke: :((( pls 

Ashton: sorry but I don't trust you. You're too tall

Luke: or you're too short

Ashton: I'm six feet

Luke: more like six centimetres

Ashton: but we're are talking about my height not your dick size

Luke: :( I thought you were nice

Ashton: I'm sorry 

Luke: I don't forgive you

Ashton: okay bye

Luke: I forgive you now pls stay

Ashton: ;) bye

Luke: Ashton?

Once it was clear Ashton wasn't responding, it occurred to Luke that he was alone again. Ashton had distracted him from reality for some time but since he had gone, Luke was alone once more.

He tried switching the TV back on and watching orange is the new black but it wasn't up to five minutes later that he was checking behind him for serial killers and creepy clowns.

It was pure desperation that drove him to shoving his phone in his pocket and speed walking downstairs. He locked the door once he was out of his house, more to prevent future anger from his mother than his concern about any burglars.

Even though the house he was headed to was right next door, it took ten whole minutes for him to work up the guts to actually walk up to it. Then ten more for him to reach out and press the doorbell. 

Luke regretted the action the second he had done it. He didn't have any time to leave though as the door was opened a second later and just his luck that none other than Aleisha herself stuck her head out of the door.

"Luke?" The little crease in her eyebrow that always appeared whenever she was confused was plain as she stared at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just passing by and I decided to drop and say hi to my ex. I mean, it's not a crime," Luke replied, running a hand through his hair out of habit.

"It's not but I'm just surprised you would do that as you hate me," Aleisha crossed her arms, staring Luke straight in the eye with her piercing baby blues.

"Hate is such a strong word. I don't ever remember saying that to you." Luke said, shaking his head as he shoved his hands inside his pocket and stared down at Aleisha. She seemed smaller and her blonde hair was shorter than he had remembered but otherwise, she was the exact same Aleisha that he had devoted two years of his life to.

"You didn't need to," Aleisha's voice was mostly amused but there was a trace of annoyance behind it. "You and Calum spray painting 'Aleisha McDonald is a stupid slut and has genital warts' all over my car while I was in physics class basically said it all."

"Oh yeah. That." Luke finally spoke, looking everywhere but at his ex girlfriend. "That was ages ago. How about we let bygones be bygones and forget all about it."

"What do you want Luke?" Aleisha ordered, folding her arms and tucking a strand of long blonde hair behind her ear. "If you're still after revenge or whatever, I'll just let you know that-"

"I'm not." Luke knew her well enough to realise when she was about to go into a mini rant and cut her off . "It's just that my house is empty and everyone I know is out right now and I don't want to be alone."

There was a brief silence in which Luke was terrified that Aleisha would slam the door in his face then all of a sudden, she was smiling and shaking her head.

"I see you're still as wimpy as ever," Aleisha smiled again, pulling the door open. "Get in before I change my mind."

Luke didn't hesitate to enter the familiar warmth of Aleisha's house. before the break up, he had spent more time in her house than he did in Calum's. 

"Shannon and my parents are out so it's just Annabel and I," Aleisha explained, taking a seat on the couch. Her dog Sparky was curled up at her feet on the rug, napping softly. Luke felt a twinge of nostalgia as he remembered how Molly and Sparky had play dates together. "She's asleep now. I think there's leftover pizza in the fridge. Want any?" 

"That'd be great." Luke crossed his legs on the sofa as Aleisha stood and drifted over to the kitchen, coming out with two plates of pizza and a can of squash, Luke's favourite drink.

"Thanks," Luke awkwardly took the plate and the can from her and balanced it on his lap. The smell of pizza was tempting but he was too suspicious of how nice Aleisha was being to him.

Aleisha seemed to pick up on this as a second later, she was rolling her eyes."I didn't do anything to it, you know. If you don't want to eat then just return it,"

"It's okay," Luke said quickly, taking a partly cautious bite out of the pepperoni pizza. "It tastes great."

"I'm overjoyed to hear that." Aleisha muttered sarcastically. She was seated next to him and when he glanced at her, he finally noticed she was dressed in one of his old football jerseys that he used to forever leave around her house and a pair of shorts. Her frizzy hair was now packed in a loose bun with a few tendrils escaping. "I need to go check on Annabel, you can come find me if it gets too scary for you down here."

"I guess I deserve that one." Luke replied amicably, lightly tapping his fingers against the top of his thighs. "Sorry about your car. If it makes it any better, it was totally Calum's idea."

"I could tell," Aleisha rolled her eyes but as she was smiling, Luke decided to take it as a good sign. "Sorry for cheating on you."

"It's all in the past," Luke shrugged, actually meaning it. The fact the person he considered to be his one true love cheated on him with another guy still hurt but he knew that he needed to forgive Aleisha if he was ever going to get over it. "We can start over."

"And what's the catch?" Aleisha raised an eyebrow, staring Luke down.

"No catch." Luke breathed out softly. "You were my best friend before we started dating. I miss that."

Aleisha stared at Luke with wide blue eyes for a moment before giving a small sniff. Luke didn't even get the chance to think about anything as she ran over to him, flinging her arms around his shoulders and hugging him tight.

"I missed you so much," Aleisha said honestly. Luke pretended not to see how she was using his sweatshirt to wipe at her running mascara. "I was so certain you'd never talk to me again."

"Aleisha McDonald was actually wrong. What is this world coming to?" Luke joked, more as an ice-breaker than anything else.

"Can you just keep quiet and hug me back?" Aleisha groaned, giving Luke a small squeeze on his arm. Luke couldn't resist laughing as he enveloped her into a warm hug. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave kudos and comments!!!


	6. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi :)

-

Ashton slowly took a seat at the back of the library, his favourite place to go whenever he was there which was basically all the time. It was his quiet place to go to escape all the stress of school and life in general and just get lost in a book.

It had surprised him more than anything when Luke suggested that they meet up in the library to study. Luke definitely didn’t come off as the kind of guy that would like hanging around a library or studying for that matter, but then again, Ashton had never really been sure what to expect of Luke as the blond boy had originally came off as intimidating with his height, ripped skinny jeans, lip-ring and punk tees while in reality, he was super awkward, somewhat shy and very dorky in a way that never failed to make Ashton’s heart melt a little.

The library was warm and toasty much to Ashton’s approval. The librarian, an elderly lady in her sixties who was always glad to see him since he apparently brightened up her day, gave him a friendly smile and one of her delicious sugar cookies after she spotted him.

Since Luke hadn’t arrived yet –not that Ashton had expected him to as they had agreed to meet at four-thirty and it was barely four-, Ashton headed to the teen fiction section and picked out the first book he saw which just happened to be Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. He had read it before but as it was a personal favourite of his, he just shrugged and curled up on his blue beanbag and began reading.

No matter how many times Ashton read it, he still found it to be a sweet book. He was aware that most people didn’t like the ending but he loved it because it was fiction, not fantasy. Happy ever afters for teen love were nothing but fantasies after all; it just didn’t happen. It wasn’t like he could talk much about it though, not when he had never experienced love for himself. He didn’t even really like his boyfriend if he was being honest but Brad was both the best and worst thing for him as he couldn’t see himself in another relationship. Everyone else would expect love and trust and feelings and Ashton didn’t want to disappoint them when they found it he was incapable of giving any of that to them.

He was halfway through the book when Luke finally arrived, appearing somewhat out of breath as he started to look around the library for Ashton. Ashton raised his arm slightly, not wanting to call out and risk disturbing the peace of the library. Luckily for him, Luke managed to see the arm right away and grinned, a cute boyish grin that made Ashton’s heart flutter –just a bit-, before he started to make his way towards the beanbags.

‘’Sorry I’m late,’’ Luke really did look apologetic as he ran his fingers through his butterscotch coloured hair before taking a seat on a green beanbag. He seemed to be in habit of doing that but it was an endearing habit. ‘’I was sleeping and my alarm didn’t go off.’’

‘’It’s fine,’’ Ashton placed the book on the floor. He couldn’t resist grinning back at Luke. ‘’It’s not like I was bored here or anything.’’

‘’You weren’t bored? In a library?’’ Luke’s tone was incredulous as he shook his head, staring at the shelves further down the room. ‘’I nearly forgot that you’re a genius for a moment.’’

‘’I’m not.’’ Ashton protested, blushing slightly as he stared pointedly away from Luke. He couldn’t help it. It wasn’t like he never got compliments but they were always about his looks or how good he was in bed. No one ever really just complimented him on something as weirdly innocent as his intelligence.

‘’What?’’ Luke raised a disbelieving eyebrow. ‘’You’re a brainbox. I wish I was as smart as you were. Maybe then I wouldn’t be so bad in school.’’

Ashton just blushed harder, still refusing to look up at Luke. It was weird. He was never this shy but he was suddenly finding himself being tongue-tied because of this dorky virgin. ‘’Let’s just start.’’

‘’I’m down with that,’’ Luke said, unzipping his bag to bring out a huge maths textbook that made Ashton feel the urge to roll his eyes. ‘’I figured we could do a little math today, you know, so I’m not totally out of my element.’’

‘’But I’m out of mine, ’’Ashton complained but gave Luke a reassuring nod. ‘’Let’s get on with it quickly so it can be over quickly.’’

Luke leaned across so he was close to Ashton, their foreheads nearly bumping as he spoke. ‘’We should start with something easily like algebra. How about simultaneous equations?’’

Ashton just nodded in response, not trusting himself to speak. Luke smelt good, not of too much aftershave or cologne like many guys their age, but simple and comforting like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Ashton wouldn’t mind smelling that scent forever. ‘’I’m terrible at those so I guess that’s a good place to start.’’

‘’You can’t be that bad,’’ Luke replied as he opened the book, searching the page containing simultaneous equations. ‘’They’re literally the easiest things ever.’’

It took less than ten minutes for Luke to backtrack on his words. ‘’Okay, so maybe you do need a little help.’’

‘’I’m sorry,’’ Ashton bit his lip guiltily, not wanting to meet Luke’s eyes out of fear of doing something even more embarrassing like bursting into tears. The only thing he hated more than doing maths was someone witnessing him failing at maths. ‘’I’m the true idiot. You shouldn’t waste your time on me.’’

‘’Are you kidding?’’ Luke said in a hushed voice, sending a guilty smile to the librarian who was shaking her head before going back to Ashton. ‘’You’re the smartest person I know. It’s not your fault that maths isn’t your strong point any more than its mine.’’

Ashton’s heart did that little fluttering thing once more at those words. It wasn’t just the words alone though. Luke was staring at him with eyes so blue they put the Atlantic to shame. It was ironic that Luke had been trying to make him feel better but they ended up making him feeling worse. Luke was so sweet and Ashton felt bad that Luke was wasting his time on someone like him.

‘’I need to go to the bathroom,’’ Ashton said quickly, just needing an excuse to leave. He didn’t wait for Luke to reply and quickly got up before heading to the restrooms. Ashton waited in there for about five minutes, just washing his hands and playing with the soap until he felt too guilty about wasting Luke’s precious time to continue and came out once again.

To his surprise, he found Luke thumbing through the copy of Eleanor and Park when he came back.

‘’You like Eleanor and Park?’’ Ashton asked, choosing to sit next to Luke instead of on his own beanbag.

‘’Never read it.’’ Luke said, his lips curling into a tentative smile. ‘’Is it good?’’

‘’Yeah,’’ Ashton wanted to say more, to tell Luke about how reading Eleanor and Park made you feel like you were falling in love and experience the heartbreak but couldn’t find the words. ‘’It’s really good.’’’

‘’What’s it about?’’ Luke said. By now Ashton could tell the taller boy was just stalling so Ashton would have more time to feel better before they attempted any more maths and he was somehow both grateful and mortified at the same time.

‘’Love,’’ Ashton said, turning away from Luke. ‘’It’s about love.’’

Luke just nodded in response, like he understood. He was wearing a black shirt with ‘The 1975’ written on it in white writing and a red flannel shirt over it. Ashton was sure 90% of the shirts Luke owned had to be flannel but he didn’t mind. It was just another of Luke’s things. He hadn’t known Luke for much time at all but he was certain he could write a semi-long list of Luke’s things.

‘’Are you borrowing it?’’ Luke asked, propping himself up on his elbow and looking meaningful.

‘’I guess,’’ Ashton said slowly, taking his time to think his words over. ‘’Do you want to borrow it?’’

‘’No,’’ Luke reached his arm out, pausing to look into Ashton’s eyes. Luke’s eyes were the perfect kind of blue that never seemed to look dull. They weren’t too dark or too light, they were just vivid and so full of life. ‘’But can I see it again?’’

Ashton handed the book back to Luke who thumbed through it once more, glancing at some pages before handing it back to Ashton.

‘’Thanks,’’ Luke said after he had given the book back. ‘’Do you want to continue the maths?’’

‘’No. Thank you.’’ Ashton decided to be honest for once. At this point, he would prefer to die rather than attempt to solve another equation.

‘’Okay,’’ Luke said instantly, not appearing to mind much. His eyes flickered with something Ashton couldn’t quite describe. ‘’Can I at least get you a coffee and a brownie to make up for being a horrible teacher?’’

‘’You’re a great teacher. I’m just bad at maths,’’ Ashton shook his head. ‘’You don’t have anything to make up for.’’

‘’I want to.’’ Luke insisted.

Ashton hesitated. He didn’t really want a brownie or coffee, not after he had eaten an entire cookie but he did want to spend more time with Luke and any excuse was good. He’d just have to make sure it was a low fat brownie. ‘’Fine.’’

‘’Awesome,’’ Luke said, his blue eyes lingering on Ashton’s.

‘’You know, if you wanted to go on a date with me that badly, you could have just asked outright,’’ Ashton teased, aiming to ease any tension in the way he knew best. ‘’Who knows, maybe I might have said yes.’’

‘’Even though I am not worthy of a greek god such as yourself?’’ Luke luckily teased right back, clutching at his chest in an over-exaggerated manner that made Ashton giggle.

‘’Well,’’ Ashton pretended to think hard for a minute before managing to put on a completely serious face. ‘’That’s true but I am a nice god, you can stay in my presence.’’

‘’This is the best day of my life,’’ Luke joked, stretching out slightly before he stood up. ‘’Are you ready to leave?’’

Ashton glanced around the library, suddenly aware of the slight glares some other students were giving them due to the amount of noise they had made in the previously silent library. ‘’Ready.’’

-

Thankfully, Luke didn’t take him to starbucks. Instead Ashton found himself in an obscure place full of hipster college kids typing on their laptops. It had a deliciously addictive scent of coffee and chocolate that could brighten up anyone’s say instantly and it seemed like a happy place, all bright colours and funny pictures on the walls.

‘’It’s my treat,’’ Luke said when they went to the counter. There was no line. ‘’I insist.’’

Ashton originally opened his mouth to protest but ended up saying. ‘’Thank you.’’

‘’No problem,’’ Luke’s dimples were showing once more.

Ashton decided to order a hot chocolate and a brownie that tasted like heaven when he bit into it and he had to resist a moan. He was decided that he wouldn’t be opposed to marrying the little piece of heaven or whoever that had baked it. He knew it was completely unhealthy but all he could think was ‘fuck it’ at that moment.

Luke had surprised him by getting a large caramel frappe with extra whipped cream and chocolate toppings along with an extra large muffin and a plate of peanut butter cookies. It was odd considering how skinny he was that he managed to eat all of that, as a mid afternoon snack. Luke with his perfect legs and broad shoulders made Ashton feel like a bloated whale in comparison but since Luke hadn’t treated him like he was morbidly obese, Ashton decided to push the thought aside and continued eating.

Ashton paused halfway through the brownie and glanced at Luke, catching the taller boy staring. Luke laughed at this but it sounded awkward and embarrassed, even more so than usual.

‘’I’m sorry, I probably look like such a creep.’’ Luke said as he bit into another cookie.

‘’You look cute,’’ Ashton said meaningfulLy. ‘’In a totally dorky way.’’

‘’Why thank you.’’ Luke grinned, Ashton suddenly didn’t feel awkward any more. ‘’Is that all I am?’’

Instead of replying vocally, Ashton just tore a small sheet out of his sketchpad and penned down a note in his large and deliberate handwriting before pushing it towards Luke.

You look so cool

-A

Luke’s grin only seemed to get bigger as he read the note, no doubt appreciating the little reference. Ashton hoped that he wouldn’t expect him to start talking about the band. So far, he had only gotten the opportunity to hear two of their songs from a friend and even though he liked the songs, he couldn’t consider himself a fan of the band yet.

‘’Wait,’’ Luke said when Ashton had started to collect his things. ‘’Do you want to come over to mine? Not to study but to hang out. I mean, it seems like we have a lot in common.’’

‘’If you mean about The 1975, I only know two of their songs.’’ Ashton admitted.

‘’I can play more for you,’’ Luke’s enthusiasm only seemed to increase instead of the other way around like Ashton had expected. ‘’It’ll be cool. I have their album on vinyl.’’

‘’Fine.’’ Ashton shrugged.


	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry i forgot i was updating this

For once, Luke didn't mind that there was probably no one home. It was probably better that way if he was being honest. Liz was the type of mother that went nuts whenever Luke brought a mate home, no matter who they were, and she would no doubt hang around them like a fly on a piece of meat while making embarrassing comments and showing baby pictures until Luke would try to jump out of the window to escape her.

''I guess we have the house to ourselves,'' Luke shrugged as he opened the door for Ashton, allowing the other boy to come in before shutting the door and locking it with a tiny click.

''Please tell me you aren't a secret serial killer or rapist,'' Ashton giggled lightly. He stopped in front of the family picture Liz had insisted the family take at the beach a year earlier. It was a funny one. Luke had been grumpy and tired of walking and Jack had been roped into carry him so they were both frowning while Liz and Jack's fiancée, Celeste, were laughing as Ben was unsuccessfully trying to get Molly to settle in his arms and Andrew was rolling his eyes at the entire situation. Ashton picked up the picture and stared at it for what seemed like ages before commenting. ''Your family really seems like something.''

''They're crazy,'' Luke replied fondly, shaking his head as he tried to push away the thoughts of the time before Ben and Jack decided to move out and his parents got promotions. ''But you can't help but love them.''

''I see where you get it from,'' Ashton smiled as he dropped the photograph back in its place.

''Is it bad that I cant even deny it?'' Luke laughed, sticking his hands into his pocket. There was the smallest hint of nostalgia in his voice that he couldn't contain.

''Not really.''

''We could watch a movie here if you want?'' Luke suggested, scratching the back of his head lightly. He had never felt so out of place in his own home before, not even when his brothers had brought girls home when he was younger and they always ended up locking Luke out of the house. ''I mean, before we listen to the album. I've got a huge collection of movies.''

''Any horror?'' was the first thing out of Ashton's lips. Luke couldn't help going slightly pale at that. They did have a large amount of horror movies that Jack had brought home for movie night whenever he was feeling particularly vengeful towards something Luke had done or just wanted to hear Luke scream like a girl.

''No, sorry.'' Luke lied, hopefully convincingly. There was the small part of him that felt bad lying but it was overruled by the much bigger part that would rather not embarrass himself any more times in front of Ashton. ''My mum doesn't allow them.''

''I'm fine with anything then,'' Ashton shrugged, playing with his curls. Luke clenched his fist in order to resist reaching out and doing the same. ''I'm not movie snob.''

''I'll get something to eat from the kitchen. You can chose any movie you want from there,'' Luke made sure to point to the cabinet that contained nothing but romantic comedies, chick flicks and drama. Aka his mother's movie collection.

Ashton nodded as Luke slipped into the kitchen. He knew there wasn't any popcorn as Liz hadn't had time to go to the convenience store lately and that was always the first thing to run out in their house but he found half a tub of cookies and cream ice-cream in the fridge and a box of crackers. Luke figured that would have to do.

''I chose If I stay. Do you mind?'' Ashton asked after Luke had taken a seat next to him on the couch. They were close but not too close that it was weird or awkward or anything. He reached out to take one of the spoons from Luke's hand and it suddenly occurred to Luke how sharing a tub of ice-cream was somewhat intimate. Maybe not for everyone but it definitely wasn't normal for Luke.

''I've never watched it.'' Luke admitted. He opened the tub of ice-cream and shovelled a big spoonful in his mouth, sighing in bliss before handing the ice-cream to Ashton. ''It's one of my mother's films.''

''Sure it is,'' Ashton grinned, taking a spoonful of ice-cream for himself.

The movie started and they both fell silent. It was an okay movie at first, Luke guessed as he wasn't really paying any attention to the thing. It seemed like the average teenage girl movie, no different the TFIOS or Fifty shades of Grey. It wasn't until the car crash happened and her entire family died that Luke realized just what kind of movie it was.

It seemed ridiculous but Luke hated ghosts more than anything. It was because they were the most realistic supernatural creature and watching a movie with a ghost-like girl wasn't scary but definitely uncomfortable. Unfortunately, he couldn't ask for a change as Ashton seemed to be enjoying the movie, if the way his eyes were completely glued to the screen was any indication. He didn't even unglue them as absentmindedly bit into a cracker or took ice-cream.

They were nearing the end of the movie when Luke heard the first sniff. It was a soft sound, so tiny that he assumed he had imagined it until he heard it again, louder this time, and realized that it was coming from Ashton.

''You okay?'' Luke paused the movie, feeling slightly relieved as so far, he hadn't enjoyed a single moment of the stupid ghost chick flick but it put a damper on his happiness if Ashton was unhappy.

''Yeah,'' Ashton said, wiping at his eyes quickly with the long sleeve of his sweater. Like all the sweaters he wore, it was huge on him and gave him tiny sweater paws that made him look like a defenceless little woodland creature. Like a squirrel. Or a koala. Luke could really picure Ashton as a tiny little Australian koala, eating bamboo. Or was that for pandas? Ashton definitely couldn't be a panda. ''Its just so sad, you know? Mia loves Adam but there's her family as well.

''I get it.'' Luke really didn't but it seemed like the best thing to say at the moment. It turned out to be the right thing as Ashton gave him a hesitant smile before curling up against him, he was definitely a koala, and cautiously placing his head on Luke's shoulder.

Luke's breath hitched as his heart suddenly decided to run a fifty mile marathon and for a moment, he just sat there awkwardly, not really knowing what to do or how to react before he slowly reached out and draped a cautious arm around Ashton's shoulder.

This was definitely the right thing to do. Ashton leaned right into Luke's touch, snuggling into Luke's chest with a small sigh.

They stayed like this even after the movie was over, just enjoying each others company in silence. Luke hadn't paid any attention to the movie and wouldn't be able to name the main character even if a gun was pressed up against his head but he'd gladly watch it again if it meant being able to hold Ashton like this.

But just as expected of his luck, every single moment of happiness he could ever have would have to be ruined by someone and it just had to be the worst person possible.

''Aww, would you look at that. My baby brother brought someone home.'' Luke and Ashton immediately sprang apart from each other, going to different ends of the couch. Luke glared up to see Jack holding up a can of beer, a stupid grin on his face. ''I didn't know you had a boyfriend.''

''Fuck off,'' Luke's face was a bright red as he rolled his eyes. He sent a quick glance to Ashton who had gotten out his phone and was suddenly extremely interested in checking his twitter feed. ''Can't I even bring a friend over without being harassed?''

''Whatever you say,'' Jack said in his infuriating older brother manner as he took another swig of beer. ''Don't think that's going to stop me from telling mum.''  
''You wouldn't.'' Luke said, knowing full well that Jack could and would. Instead of responding, Jack gave an irritatingly smug little chuckle and held out the can of beer towards Luke.

Luke decided to completely ignore Jack, his only hope for redemption, and turned to Ashton instead, asking. ''Do you want to head to my room now? We can listen to the songs.''

''Sure.'' Ashton replied instantly.

It wasn't until they were halfway up the stairs that Luke started to think and worry. His room was always in a state of being a total mess but he never bothered to clean it up despite Liz's protests as it wasn't like anyone important ever came to his room. Ashton was definitely someone important and Luke should have had the common sense and taken the opportunity to clean up his room a bit before inviting Ashton up. Plus his TMNT and Mila Kunis posters were still stuck up all over his walls, mixing along with the unembarrasing grunge nirvana and sex pistols ones.

To his surprise, Ashton seemed to adore his room. Despite the messiness of it all, he had on a cute smile as he ran his fingers along Luke's posters and stared at the pictures on Luke's dresser.

''Who's that?'' Ashton pointed to an old picture of Aleisha and Luke, after they had just started dating.

''My ex-girlfriend.'' Luke didn't know why he felt bad saying that. He knew he should have taken down the picture and thrown it away like he had the rest but he could never bring himself to do that. The picture reminded him of a time when he was in love and it was so strong and all consuming that Luke remembered feeling like it would swallow him alive at times. No matter how heartbroken and hurt he had been, he would never regret falling in love. Not when he still had memories of it.

''She's pretty,'' Ashton remarked, sounding sincere. He dropped the picture and before Luke could comprehend what was happening. Ashton was giggling as he tugged at a piece of fabric sticking out of Luke's drawer. ''What's this?''

Before Luke could tell him to stop, Ashton was pulling out a pair of penguin boxers. The grin on Ashton's face got even wider. ''Penguins?''

''They're cute.'' Luke defended. He was relieved when Ashton dropped the boxers a second later but the relief was only short-lived as Ashton went on to picking up a pair of batman ones. This continued until Ashton had ultimately started going through Luke's entire underwear collection, giggling at every cartoon, superhero and food pair he found. It was only light-hearted teasing but Luke couldn't help wishing he had listened to Calum and gotten Calvin Klein's instead of themed superhero boxers.

''Do you want to see the 1975 now?'' Luke said loudly, attempting to distract Ashton.

''Later.'' Ashton stuck out his tongue, holding up a pair of monsters inc boxers. ''Seriously? Disney?''

''Give that back,'' Luke groaned, stretching his arm out.''That was a moment of weakness.''

''Nope,'' Ashton popped the 'p', edging away from Luke when Luke attempted to get the boxers back.

Luke threw his arms up in the air in surrender and raised his eyebrows. ''Please?''

''Not good enough.'' Ashton laughed, edging away from Luke. ''You aren't that cute.''

''Fine then, I'm just going to take it by force,'' Luke said, before lunging at Ashton in attempt to grab the boxers. Ashton just grinned and backed away, much more gracefully than Luke as he wasn't a walking beanpole. Luke had thought he would have the advantage because of his freakishly long legs and years running track and doing football but Ashton seemed to be quicker on his feet for some reason.

Ashton had nearly gotten to the door when Luke managed to slip an arm around his waist and pull him back so that he tottered over and fell backwards, landing against Luke so that they both collapsed unto the floor in a heap. Luke's chest felt slightly sore and his legs were definitely going to hurt like hell later but he was too busy laughing to care.

''I cant believe you did that!'' Ashton exclaimed, giggling louder. ''You're such a jerk.''

''I'm the jerk?'' Luke said in pretend disbelief. ''Who sexually harassed me by going through my underwear?''

''That isn't sexual harassment,'' Ashton blushed, twisting his hair beneath his hands. ''I was just curious.''

''Yeaah, right.'' Luke scoffed.

Luke noticed how close they were for the first time. Ashton's lips were but a few centimetres away from his and it would take less than Luke giving a small nod to make their lips brush. Ashton was still laughing softly, his eyes bright and warm like melted gold, his honey blonde hair tousled from their little scuffle. Luke could see his chest rising and falling and it tugged a few of his own heartstrings.

Ashton opened his mouth to say something but didn't get the opportunity as Luke ended up ducking slightly and pressing his lips against Ashton's in a butterfly kiss so light that he wouldn't have believed that they were actually kissing if he couldn't see Ashton beneath him, eyes open wide.

''I'm so sorry.'' Luke gabbled, pulling back and staring at Ashton with huge eyes. ''I didn't mean to, I was just. Fuck. I mean-''

Luke was suddenly cut off from his nonsensical stream of words by Ashton pressing his lips against Luke's again, in a deeper kiss this time. Luke's brain seemed to go into short circuit by the feeling of kissing Ashton as the next moment, he wasn't thinking about all the things that was so wrong about them kissing. He could only focus on how it felt so right in the way that he could feel Ashton's soft pink lips against his and Ashton's tongue in his mouth as he tangled his fingers into Ashton's curls, lightly pulling on them.

Luke spread his legs slightly to give Ashton room to fit in between as they exchanged heated kisses. Luke was starting to get tempted to just pin Ashton against the nearest wall and fuck him but he managed to control his urges and go slowly as they continued kissing with the smaller boy on top of him. Ashton's hands tangled in Luke's hair as Luke's tongue invaded his mouth, stroking and rubbing it gently as he started trail his fingers down to cup Ashton's ass.

To his pleasure, Ashton didn't seem to mind this. Luke moved one of his hands to slip it up his shirt and feel Ashton's flat stomach. When Luke's hand found Ashton's nipple, he actually giggled for a moment before it turned into a breathy moan. Luke's dick hadn't even been touched yet but he was already getting hard just from seeing Ashton like that.

With each passing second, Luke seemed to be falling deeper and deeper and he would have probably not stopped kissing Ashton if Ashton didn't snap back into his senses at that moment, pulling away from Luke, his eyes wide and tearful.

"I'm sorry," Ashton backed away from Luke, still looking shell-shocked. "I can't believe I did that."

I kissed you first and I really want to kiss you again Luke thought but bit his tongue in order not to say anything. He wasn't sure what to do or say or anything at all yet.  
"I mean," Ashton continued to babble quickly, shaking his head. "I can kind of believe I kissed you because you're really really hot and I've dreamt of doing that but I'm seeing someone and that was totally wrong."

"Wait, I'm hot?" Luke managed to get out of the sentence.

Ashton just groaned and began to slide off Luke's body. "I think I've got to go now."

"Don't leave." Luke said, holding unto Ashton's arm gently. He blushed when Ashton sent him a quizzical glance. "I mean, you haven't heard anything yet."

"Maybe later. I'm sorry Luke but I have to," Ashton bit his lip gently as he pulled away from Luke. Luke didn't even get the opportunity to say anything else, not like he had anything to say anyways, before Ashton had walked out and left the room.

Luke had decided to just lie on the floor for a while and feel sorry for himself like the total idiot he was when the door to his room was opened and Jack walked in.

''What do you want?'' Luke said loudly, turning away from Jack. He wasn't in the mood for any of Jack's teasing at the moment. ''Didn't you read the sign saying no annoying blokes allowed?''

''What happened with your boy?'' Jack replied, completely ignoring Luke's statement.

''None of your business.'' Luke just wanted to be left alone in peace so he could go into his bed and play some Ed sheeran and hopefully be able to stay in bed for the rest of his life. Or at least until dinner. He wasn't going to be picky, but it seemed like Jack had other plans. ''Leave me alone.''

''Listen, Luke,'' Jack started. ''You're going to face a lot of rejection in your life. Girls will reject you, boys will reject you, teachers will reject you, colleges will reject you, creepy old men will reject you, employers will-''

''Can we get to the inspiring part yet?'' Luke interrupted rudely. ''Because this is already turning out to be the worst speech I've ever heard.''

''Well then let me finish you little twerp,'' Jack rolled his eyes. ''Like I was saying, you're going to be rejected a lot in your life but no matter how weird and gay you might act, you're still a Hemmings man. And Hemmings men never take rejection at face value. We just try again and again till we get what we want.''

''What if what I want is already taken by someone else?''

''Then stop being a little wimp and take it back,''Jack ordered, standing over Luke and poking his younger brother in the cheek. ''Don't make me beat you up.''

''Ýou're a terrible older brother,'' Luke sighed but got off from the floor, brushing the imaginary dust off his shirt.

''And you're the most annoying younger one,'' Jack grinned. ''Now do you want me to take you out for ice-cream at Cold Rocks?''

''I'm not five you know,'' Luke argued, turning back to Jack a second later. ''What flavour?''

Jack shrugged. ''Cookies and Cream.''

''Can I ride shotgun?'' Luke asked as he suddenly became interested in the offer.

''Just this once.''

''Fine then.''


End file.
